Final Project: Spiritual and Psychological Inventory

Monaliza Tatekawa

Kaplan University
Unit 9
HW420: Creating Wellness Psychological & Spiritual Aspects of Healing
Questionnaire:

1. When you hear the word spirituality, what is your first thought? And what does

spirituality mean to you?

2. When you hear the word religion, what is your first thought? And what does religion

mean to you?

3. Between spirituality and religion, is there one you resonate more with? Why?

4. Is the topic of human spirituality one that you can freely talk about, or is it one that you

reserve for particular people or situations?

5. What is your best definition of love?

6. What is your best definition of fear?

7. Can you give me one example of what limits your sense of spirit? (ex: impatience,

anxiety, laziness, intolerance, etc)

8. How do you deal with adversity? Can you share a time in your life that where you had to

overcome a particular struggle in your life?

9. In your opinion, do you feel that there is a connection between building character and

cultivating a healthy spirit? If so, have you experienced a situation/challenging time in

your life in which you felt some part of your character was enhanced?

10. How do you define conscience?

11. How do you define ego?

12. Do you hear the voice of conscience within you? Or does the voice of ego drown in out?

13. Are there things in your life that you need to clear to find inner peace?

I believe the questions that I have compiled together will help me to understand a clients

spectrum of spirituality and his or her psychological self.

 Questions 1-4, in which I asked the client about spirituality and religion, was to help me

understand how much the client knows about spirituality and religion, how they feel about the

two subjects, what it means to them and how comfortable they are with discussing these types

topics.

My intentions for questions 5 and 6, which were to describe what love and fear meant to the

client, was to open up a conversation about the two subjects. I think these two questions were

important to ask because Love is the motivation behind many of our dreams, actions and

thoughts (Alperstein, n.d.). While fear blocks not just spiritual perception, [but] everyday clear

thought (How fear blocks spiritual development, 2013). By delving into a conversation about

love and fear, what the client loves about life, loves about himself/herself and what the client

fears, can tell you a lot about their state of wellness.

For question 7, which was can you give me one example of what limits your sense of spirit?

(ex: impatience, anxiety, laziness, intolerance, etc). This questions was asked to help me

understand what kind of inner struggles, if any, that the client may be aware of, which may

prevent them from achieving goals or a balanced lifestyle.

For question 8, how do you deal with adversity? I felt that this was an opening question to

share a time when the client experienced adversity. This question was to help me understand if

the client had a sense of tragic optimism. I wanted to see if the client turned his sufferings into

meaningful experiences and if he learned from his experiences with a positive perspective on

life. (Seaward, 2013)

For question 9, In your opinion, do you feel that there is a connection between building

character and cultivating a healthy spirit? If so, have you experienced a situation/challenging
time in your life in which you felt some part of your character was enhanced? My intention for

this question was to find out if the client does feels a connection between character building and

cultivating a healthy spirit. Depending on the answer of the client, I can determine if he/she

believes that there is a connection between life experiences and the health of their spirit. I also

asked this question to spark a conversation about how life experiences effect the human spirit.

Question 10 and 11, define conscience and ego. My intentions for this question was to find

out how the client defined these two terms. It was also a transition question to number 12, Do

you hear the voice of conscience within you? Or does the voice of ego drown in out? Question

12 was to help me understand if the client leans more on the conscience side rather than the ego

side.

Question 13, Are there things in your life that you need to clear to find inner peace? This

question was mainly asked to get the client thinking about some unresolved issues that they may

want to release and work out. This question was also a way for me to find out if there were any

emotional struggles the client was facing and if any of these struggles had any effect on the

clients holistic health.

The Interview

John, an active duty navy man in his forties was my mock client. The results to my

interview with him are as follows. Questions 1-4: When he hears the word spirituality, he thinks
of people that believe in a higher being in which they draw their faith from. When he hears the

word religion, he thinks its a topic that shouldnt be discussed. He feels that many arguments

stem from the discussion of religion. Between spirituality and religion, he feels that he is more

religious because he knows more about his religion (Catholicism) than spirituality. Although he

is religious and believes in God, he does not actively participate in religious activities but Sunday

mass on special occasions. For the topic of human spirituality and his comfortable level with

discussing it, he states that he does not know much about spirituality and is not interested in

discussing the topic.

Questions 5 -9: His definition of love was an undeniable feeling towards something or

someone that makes you feel good inside. For fear, his definition was something that scares you.

He stated that impatience and laziness are two characteristics that limit his spirit. And in times of

adversity and suffering, he simply takes it with a grain of salt and moves on. I then ask him if he

feels a connection between building character and cultivating a healthy spirit. Im not sure if he

quite understood the question. He related the word spirit with a ghostly entity. I reworded the

question and gave him examples as to how building character could cultivate a healthy spirit. He

answered that he was unsure if there was a relation to the two.

Questions 10-12: His definition to conscience is the voice that tells you right from wrong.

His definition of ego is how you portray yourself and how you would like others to portray you.

Between the two voices of conscience and ego, he states that they both constantly fight with one

another; however, he states that he has a third voice which is a neutral voice. Usually when he is

at odds with both voices, hell usually listen to his neutral voice.

Question 13: He stated that he did not have anything in his current life that would prevent

him from finding inner peace. He is currently happy with his life and with who he is.
Interview Results

In my opinion, Johns state of wellness, psychologically, is pretty strong. He knows

where stands spiritually and religiously. He doesnt really understand the concept of spirituality;

he feels that it is too deep. He also thinks it deals with spirits and ghosts that linger here on earth,

so hes decided to stay away from the subject. Knowing what religion, hes a part of and simply

believing in God is enough for him. He is practical in his beliefs about life and what is needed to

survive. He believes taking care of yourself, physically and mentally requires eating right,

getting an adequate amount of sleep and exercise, and staying positive. By doing this, he believes

one can attain happiness and peace. At times of adversity, he takes his hardships with a grain of

salt and continues to push through life. He doesnt dwell in his sorrows for too long, rather, he

shakes them off and takes action. He was unable to make a connection between building

character and cultivating spirit, I think mainly because he was unsure as to what cultivating spirit

meant. He struggles with conscience and ego, and when he cant decide between the two, he

stays neutral. At this moment in his life, he is happy and content with where he is and who he is.

Additions and Subtractions to the Inventory

After the interview, I came to realize a few questions that were irrelevant for the purpose

of the interview, as well as some that were too straight forward. I think my biggest mistake was

my first question, When you hear the word spirituality, what is your first thought? And what

does spirituality mean to you?. I think this question was too straight forward which set the tone

for the rest of the interview. Because John was not interested in the topic of spirituality, he

closed up immediately and was not very receptive to my questions. I would still keep the

question, but possibly place it last on the inventory or rephrase it. Are you affiliated with a

particular religion or spiritual practice? might have been a subtler approach in finding out more
about that part of his background. I would also replace the first few questions with; Tell me a

little bit about yourself. What are your hobbies and interests? Tell me about your family. Do you

see them often and what do you and your family like to do together? I wouldve also added more

questions about love and fear after questions 5 and 6, such as, what do you love most about

yourself? This wouldve helped in understanding his strengths. And what are some of your

biggest fears? This wouldve helped in understanding more about what we can work on.

Question 9 seemed to be one that was hard to understand, I think I would keep the question, but

again rephrase it. For questions 10-12, I would subtract all together. I think the information about

how he views conscience and ego is irrelevant to understanding his state of wellness. Lastly,

question 13 was a difficult one for John to answer. Maybe it was another question that was too

straight forward. I think opening up about personal issues would be more appropriate after a

relationship has been built between practitioner and client. However, although he wasnt

receptive to the question, it was an opportunity for me to get him thinking about it. After

conducting this interview, I have learned that everyone is different. I have also learned that

topics such as spirituality, religion and personal struggles can be very difficult for some people to

discuss. I have also learned to start off with questions that are more subtle and simple. Once the

client feels more comfortable, I can then move forward to deeper questions.

In conclusion, using the information that I have gathered about John, I can determine

what types of topics and experiences he may be open to as well as which areas will need more

time for relationship building and trust. With the little information that I do have on hand now, I

can create a rough draft plan on how to help him create his own unique spiritual and

psychological health development plan. While working with him, we can modify any aspects of

the plan that does not align with who he is and or his beliefs. I can see that he is a practical man,
with a strong sense of who he is and a just do it attitude. However, I can also see a side of him

that will require some time to discover. My initial goal for him would be to build a relationship.

I would also like to facilitate expression and articulation of the clients values, beliefs, needs and

desires that encourages his choices and interactions. I would also like to encourage the client to

be more expressive about his full range of emotions. As well as encourage the client to share

fears/concerns, hopes/dreams, creative expression, intuition and awareness of relationships,

including the divine/transcendent in understanding the core identity of the client (Kilt, n.d.). I

believe that understanding the core identity of a client is essential in creating the most effective

spiritual and psychological health development plan.

References:

Alperstein, M. What is spiritual love? How to Love Yourself Using Universal Truths.

Retrieved October 24, 2016, from Light Workers World,

http://www.lightworkersworld.com/2011/02/what-is-spiritual-love-how-to-love-yourself-using-

universal-truths-by-michael-alperstein/

How Fear Blocks Spiritual Development. (2013, July 9). Retrieved October 24, 2016,

from Finer Minds, http://www.finerminds.com/spirituality/how-fear-blocks-spiritual-

development/

Kilt, V. T. Spiritual Health and Assessment. Retrieved from

http://www.spiritualcare.ca/flow/uploads/pdfs/SPIRITUAL_CARE_AND_ASSESSMENT_pres

entation2.pdf

Seaward, B. L. (2012a). Health of the Human Spirit: Spiritual Dimensions for Personal

Health (2nd ed.). Sudbury, MA, United States: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.